Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Incentives Hit New High With $5 Million New Mexico Prize
AP: New Mexico Offers Largest Single Vaccination Prize In US
New Mexico bet big Tuesday that cash can persuade people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, offering the largest single cash prize among the growing number of states staging lotteries to promote inoculations. Vaccinated residents who register on New Mexico's “Vax 2 the Max” portal can win prizes from a pool totaling $10 million that includes a $5 million grand prize, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced. (Attanasio, 6/1)
The Oregonian: Fred Meyer And QFC’s Parent Company, Kroger, Giving Away $5 Million In COVID Vaccine Sweepstakes
Go to Kroger, get a COVID shot and (maybe) win $1 million. Kroger Health, a division of Kroger, is launching an initiative to encourage COVID-19 vaccines by giving away money and free groceries to people who receive vaccines through their programs. The Community Immunity giveaway campaign will start this week and provides individuals, including customers and Kroger associates, the opportunity to win one of five $1 million payouts and 50 chances to win a year of free groceries. (Gore, 6/1)
CBS News: Krispy Kreme Has Given Away Over 1.5 Million Doughnuts To Vaccinated Americans
Krispy Kreme has made being vaccinated against COVID-19 a whole lot sweeter — since it first announced it would give vaccinated Americans a free doughnut every day this year, more than a million people have taken them up on the deal. On Tuesday, Krispy Kreme announced that it has shown its "sweet support to those doing their part to protect themselves and others" by giving free doughnuts to over 1.5 million Americans who have presented a valid vaccination card at participating locations. Vaccinated doughnut lovers can continue getting a free Original Glazed doughnut every single day through the end of 2021. (Lewis, 6/1)
In other updates on the vaccine rollout —
AP: Alaska Launches COVID-19 Airport Vaccination Program
Alaska has begun offering COVID-19 vaccines at airports, a move that was anticipated for the start of the summer travel season. The state health department said effective Tuesday, vaccine eligibility was expanded to include anyone in Alaska who is at least 12 years old, including visitors from other states or countries. Prior eligibility was for those who live or work in Alaska. (6/1)
San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Pediatricians Start To Give COVID Shots, The Next Phase Of Vaccinations
Inside a Larkspur pediatrician’s office with an ocean landscape on one wall and bright plastic chairs nearby, Ryan Youngberg turned his head to the right as a medical assistant stuck his left arm with the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. Ryan, 12, was nervous beforehand — “I don’t really like needles,” he said. But afterward, as he and his father, Kris Youngberg, waited in the parking lot for 15 minutes to make sure he didn’t develop an allergic reaction, Ryan said he felt “a lot better, less nervous.” Once he is fully vaccinated, Ryan can safely see his grandparents for the first time since the pandemic began. (Ho, 6/1)
Bloomberg: Transplants Force Patients To Amass Vaccinations To Beat Covid
For Jennifer Woda, two doses of the Moderna Inc. vaccine were not enough protection against the Covid-19 virus. Over a month later, she got a third and fourth dose, this time with the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine. An opera singer who teaches music to kids, Woda received a kidney transplant in September 2019, one of about 160,000 transplants that have occurred in the U.S. since 2017. Emerging research is now showing that these patients, who suppress their immune system with drugs so their bodies don’t reject donated organs, are dramatically less likely to develop protective antibodies using the authorized vaccine dosage. (Chen, 6/1)
NPR: Vaccine Data On Race Varies Widely Among States, Making Outreach Difficult
Throughout the COVID-19 vaccination effort, public health officials and politicians have insisted that providing shots equitably across racial and ethnic groups is a top priority. But it's been left up to states to decide how to do that and to collect racial and ethnic data on vaccinated individuals, so they can track how well they're doing reaching all groups. The gaps and inconsistencies in the data have made it difficult to understand who's actually getting shots. Just as an uneven approach to containing the coronavirus led to a greater toll for Black and Latino communities, the inconsistent data guiding vaccination efforts may be leaving the same groups out on vaccines, says Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. (Smith, 6/1)
The Advocate: COVID Vaccine Misinformation Ran Rampant During This Louisiana Senate Hearing
Out of more than 3 million doses administered, there have been zero deaths to-date connected to COVID-19 vaccinations in Louisiana — but you wouldn't know that if you tuned in to the Senate's Judiciary A Committee hearing Tuesday. With legislation barring vaccine discrimination up for debate, a string of speakers repeatedly cited a federal database, often misinterpreted by anti-vaccine activist, to argue that the life-saving jab had killed nearly four dozen residents. It was one of several misleading — or flat-out false — claims bandied about at Tuesday's hearing, offering a peak into the myths and untruths that Louisiana's public health officials are confronting as they attempt to convince nearly two-thirds of the state's residents to get vaccinated. (Paterson, 6/1)
The Wall Street Journal: The Awkward Playdate Negotiations When Your Kids Aren’t Vaccinated Yet
Julie Forcum has come to a conclusion about arranging playdates during a pandemic: Everyone thinks they’re on the same page—until they’re not. “You talk to [other parents] and realize they have a different understanding of ‘safe’ than we do,” says the Seattle leadership consultant, who has a 10-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son. For the newly vaccinated Ms. Forcum, 46, it means playdates with strict masking while indoors. To enforce the rules, she insists on hosting—sometimes in the garage—for better ventilation. (Dizik, 6/1)
In news about vaccine "passports" —
The New York Times: Will The Excelsior Pass, New York’s Vaccine Passport, Catch On?
On the Upper East Side in Manhattan, a well-heeled crowd flashed it to get into a socially distanced dance performance at the Park Avenue Armory. In Chelsea, people showed it to attend a John Mulaney stand-up set at City Winery. And in Troy, N.Y., patrons are using it to enter an intimate, speakeasy-style bar that only admits vaccinated guests. This magic ticket is New York State’s Excelsior Pass, which was introduced in March as the first and only government-issued vaccine passport in the country, accessible, for now, only to people who have been vaccinated in the state. (Otterman, 6/1)
The Oregonian: Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull Compares Vaccine Passports To Jim Crow Laws
The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday stripped Commissioner Mark Shull of certain duties after he compared COVID-19 vaccination passports to Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation. Shull said during Tuesday’s board meeting that his proposed resolution comparing the passports to Jim Crow laws was intended to generate discussion among the county board. Instead, he was excoriated by his fellow commissioners for invoking racist laws in speaking about his position on the passports. (Crombie, 6/1)
